A Win For Wellness! People Are Drinking Way Less Soda

The all-out assault on carbonated beverages continues! On Monday we brought you the news that diet soda consumption was linked with heart disease in older women. Those findings simply added to the growing belief that soda — and especially diet soda, which has been touted as a "healthier" carbonated drink due to its lack of sugar — is detrimental to your health.

But does this research actually impact human behavior? A report released Monday by Beverage-Digest suggests that it might. Consumption of nearly every type of carbonated soft drink (CSD) declined by 3% in 2013 (compared with a 1.2% decline in 2012), with diet drinks taking an especially hard hit. Overall, the industry lost nearly $1 billion in the past year, posting a revenue of $76.3 billion (compared with $77.1 billion in 2012). That's still a lot of money, though!

Here's what the report had to say about the new data:

The challenging recent trends in the U.S. beverage business continued and worsened in 2013. Total liquid refreshment beverages (LRBs), which had grown modestly in recent years, were down last year. And the biggest category — carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) — which has declined in recent years, declined again with the rate of decline worsening.

What's more, the decline was especially apparent in diet drinks:

Diets CSDs are now struggling. At least some consumers seem to be shying away from the legacy diet sweeteners, according to sources.

Some consumers, indeed! As more information becomes available about the negative impact sugar and sugar replacements can have on health, we may see this sort of decline to increase. All of which is good news for consumers, and bad news for companies who produce these beverages — voting with your dollar really does matter!